^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

House Flags of German Shipping Companies (h)

Other "H"-companies:

Hadag Seetourist & Fahrdienst A.G.
Hamburg - Amerika Linie
Hamburger Lloyd
Hamburg Süd
Hamburg-Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft: see Columbus Line / HSDG
Haniel Reederei
Hansa
Harms Bergung
Hapag-Lloyd AG
HHLA
Horn Linie
Hülskens

See also:

Haeger & Schmidt

image by Eugene Ipavec, 24 May 2006

Last year, a Haeger & Schmidt house flag was offered on eBay (end 8 June 2005, object no. 6182869155). Divided per saltire red (left and right triangles) and blue (upper and lower triangles), it has a white disk in the centre bearing a gearwheel outlined in black; the red triangles bear the black letters ?H &? (hoist) and ?Sch? (fly). Following links lead to the website of 'Haeger & Schmidt International GmbH' (original German and English version). Quote from ?The Company? section: ?With our own fleet of ships, chartered vessels and a large number of privately-owned inland waterway craft working under contract for us, Haeger & Schmidt International is responsible for transporting over 10 million tonnes of cargo a year.

Haeger & Schmidt is a strong and powerful member of the SNCB / NMBS Group. As a major link in this comprehensive logistics system, we can offer all the
advantages of inland waterway carriage in ideal combination with all other modes of transport. Flexibility and integration are our strengths.?
Among the activities of this company, founded in 1887 and now employing some 200 people, are waterway transportation of various kinds (including containers), warehousing, and short-sea traffic. A look at the ?Locations? section shows Haeger & Schmidt offices in Germany (Duisburg being the main seat), Poland, Switzerland, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Some interesting flagoids appear representing RKE (Belgium), Best Logistics (Poland), AVR (France), and Sitra (Netherlands), all but the last being variants of the H&Sch flag.
House flag flying on this barge, or to give another example, tiny flag visible (photo) and house flag (drawing) here.
Jan Mertens, 18 Apr 2006

E. Hagen & Co

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 30 Mar 2007

E. Hagen und Co. - The company used a white flag with a red pentagram in its centre. In the middle of the pentagram is a red inscription "H&Co.".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; inside cover.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 30 Mar 2007

J. Hagen

image by Jorge Candeias, 8 Jan 2005

The flag is blue with a white lozenge that touches the edges and a red initial "H" in the center. And the caption is sheer clarity: J. Hagen.
Jorge Candeias, 8 Jan 2005

Hamburg-Bremen Afrika Linie

image by Jarig Bakker, 21 Jan 2005

Hamburg-Bremen Afrika Linie, Bremen; white flag, black key; in corners red "HBAL".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 21 Jan 2005

Hamburger Verkehrs Verbund

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 Feb 2007

HVV, the "Hamburger Verkehrs Verbund" is Hamburgs Public Transport, consisting of S-Bahn Hamburg, which is part of German Railways DB, HHA, the "Hamburger Hochbahn AG", which runs metros and busses and HADAG, which runs harbour ferries for passengers. It is often hoisted together with the HADAG-flag.
It is a white flag with red horizontal stripes at both edges. In the centre is the inscription "HVV" in red capital italics, red underlined and two blue parallel lines connected with a little white square on the left side. The blue line is a symbol of a railway track with one station (=white square). (spotted 12 November 2006 in Hamburg).
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 19 Feb 2007

Hamburg-Vera Cruz-Packetfahrt-Gesellschaft

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

Hamburg-Vera Cruz-Packetfahrt-Gesellschaft - The company had a red flag with a blue roundel in the centre. In each corner was a blue capital "H" (upper hoist), "V" (upper fly);"P" (lower hoist) and "G" (lower fly).
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

Hamman & Prahm

image by Jarig Bakker, 9 Nov 2005

Hamman & Prahm G.m.b.H. & Co., Wischhafen - horizontal green - white - red flag; in center white diamond with smaller black outlined diamond, charged with green underlined cloverleaf; the diamond between black "HP".
(Wischhafen is northwest of Hamburg along the Elbe river.)
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 9 Nov 2005

Hansa T

image by Jarig Bakker, 31 Aug 2006

Another nice flag shown on the Binnenvaart site belongs to the German inland shipping company ?Hansa? (not to be confused with its more famous, sea-going namesake).

Variously rendered on the above site, two names come up: Hansa Tankschiffahrt W. Deichmann & Co. at Oberwinter (small town on the Rhine, to the South of Bonn) and Hansa Transport at Hannover (well-known town in the North of Germany; the Mittellandkanal is nearby).
The house flag and the vessel ?Hansa T? are shown here. Interestingly, the photo camera icon near the ?Hansa 8? (first name of this vessel) links to a b/w photo showing the flag.

According to Binnenvaart, the house flag is (was) white with a black serifed initial ?H? in the centre, within a black ring; from the centre, four widening green stripes reach towards the flag?s corners. (On the other hand, the b/w photo *seems* to have non-widening stripes, in other words, the ringed ?H? would to be positioned in the centre of a regular green saltire. Curious, or simply bad eyesight on my part.)

As to the firm?s history ? from Binnenvaart I could only extract 1956-1974 as years of operation, beyond that I drew a blank in every respect!
Jan Mertens, 31 Aug 2006

Hansatank

image by Eugene Ipavec, 20 Aug 2008

This image was extracted from German eBay offer 6629791901, ended 21 May 2006. We see a red-and-white checkered flag (nine rectangles 3x3 starting with red in upper hoist) bearing black initials ?HTO? (no serifs) on the second row, one letter per rectangle.
It is safe to assume that HTO refers to Hansatank Osnabrück.
Jan Mertens, 29 Dec 2006

Hanse Bereederung

image by Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of HANSE Bereederung - Blue - white disk, red H.
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Hanseatic (Bremen)

image by Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of Hanseatic (Bremen) - Red - white disk, outlined H.
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Hanseatic Shipping

image by Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Dov Gutterman spotted the link of Hanseatic Shipping & Chartering GmbH - Horizontal Red - White - Blue, reversed at the hoist; in center outlined blue oval, blue "HSC".
Santiago Dotor, 11 Nov 2003

Hanseatische Dampf Gesellschaft

image by Jarig Bakker, 14 Dec 2004

Hanseatische Dampf Gesellschaft, Lübeck - red flag; white letters "H.D.G".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 14 Dec 2004

Hanseatische Motorschiffahrts-AG

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

Hanseatische Motorschiffahrts-AG - The company used a white flag with narrow horizontal red stripes on both edges. In the centre of the flag is a black object similar to a ship's propeller.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

Hanseatischer Afrika-Dienst

image by Jarig Bakker, 13 Nov 2003

I found a companion to the Glahr-houseflag with reversed colors in "See und Seefahrt", by G.A. Wolter, 1968 - Hanseatischer Afrika-Dienst.
Dov Gutterman, 2 Nov 2003

A. Hansen

image by Jarig Bakker, 17 Feb 2005

A. Hansen, Flensburg - blue flag, white "A.H.".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 17 Feb 2005

Alnwick Harmstorf

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 June 2007

Alnwick Harmstorf Co / Taurus-Schiffahrt: It is a light blue (FIAV-code B-) flag with a white stripe at top and bottom edge and a white serifed capital "H" in the centre of the flag.
I spotted this flag on 2 April 2007 in front of the company`s building in Hamburg-Altona, Kaystraße 1.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 1 June 2007

Harpen Transport AG

image by Jarig Bakker, 17 Jun 2007

?HTAG Häfen und Transport AG? (or ?Harpen Transport AG? as it was called till 2004) is a German logistics company active in inland navigation and related areas. Homepage (English version via Union Jack), the url revealing where the head office is situated: Owned by the similarly named ?Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln AG? ? again laying stress on ports and transport - HTAG has a number of subsidiaries in Germany and other countries offering chartering, shipping, and handling services.

In addition, the related firm ?Bunkerbetriebe Büchting GmbH? is active in the Rhine area while other daughter companies are Oudkerk, Masslog (coal terminal at Duisburg), and Neska (forwarder, Duisburg).

The house flag (drawing) on the site, horizontally divided black-white-red, is striking in view of the fact that it is completely similar to the old German national flag 1871-1918. Tiny Harpen flag couple on inland vessel ?Similor? (photo) plus earlier version of flag logo on this Vlootschouw page.

A number of Harpen (that is to say, pre-HTAG) vessels are shown on the Binnenvaart site, e.g; ?Harpen 29? (adding a drawing of the flag):
I could not but see that said Binnenvaart vessels are mostly attributed to a firm called Harpener Bergbau (i.e. mining) which flew a different (pre-WWII) house flag. For the moment I see Harpen Transport/HTAG as an offshoot of Harpener Bergbau (which is named after a village of that name, by the way).
Jan Mertens, 15 Jun 2007

Here is a link to a German Wikipedia page on Harpener Bergbau: Founded in 1856. Mining interests go to Ruhrkohle 1969, keeping real estate, logistics and energy distribution. Further consolidations and mergers of companies, successors of HB.

Real estate firm Harpen Immobilien, Dortmund: So there seems to be a connection - the logistics department must have gone on until the takeover by Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln.
Now for Harpener Bergbau, flying a house flag horizontally divided (light)-(dark)-(light) with (light) initials ?HB? on the middle stripe separated by the well-known miners? hammers in (light).
No colours unfortunately as I only found b/w images on this Tugspotters page: This is the best HB photo on Tugspotters.
A wild guess: could the colours have been white and green? See this Binnenvaart photo of ?Harpen 105?: Who knows?
Jan Mertens, 16 Jun 2007

Harpener Bergbau

image sent by Jan Mertens, 4 Sep 2007

Regarding the Harpener Bergbau house flag, I gratefully acknowledge Ian Sumner?s help in solving this problem: the answer is found in ?Flaggen auf dem Rhein? (i.e. Flags on the Rhine, Duisburg 1952, 4th ed.), p. 64: the colours are white and blue. The words ?Abteilung Schiffahrt? mentioned in the caption, mean the shipping department of the Harpen coal mine company.
Jan Mertens, 4 Sep 2007

Hartmann Reederei

image by Jorge Candeias, 2 Mar 1999

White with a greyish blue lowercase 'h', in italics, shifted to the fly. The lower 'leg' of the 'h' stretches to the hoist creating a relatively narrow stripe over which are two other stripes in dark red and black.
Jorge Candeias, 2 Mar 1999

Hartmann Reederei. This refers to what is now Hartmann Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. K.G. which dates from 1981, originally as Alfred Hartmann.
Neale Rosanoski, 18 Oct 2004

A.Hartrodt

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

A.Hartrodt imported salpetre. He bought this one and only vessel in 1907. It was sunk by a submarine in 1917 and that was the end of the company. The company used a white flag with capital letters "AH" in the centre.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.208.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Paul Hase

image by Jarig Bakker, 17 Feb 2006

Paul Hase, Hammah - 7 horizontal stripes of black and orange; in center black "H".
Hammah is a small town west of Hamburg.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 17 Feb 2006

Albert Hauschild

image by Jarig Bakker, 6 Nov 2003

Dov Gutterman reported the link of Albert Hauschild (GmbH & Co.), which contains the houseflag of said firm, as well as the rather similar flag of Klingenberg Bereederungs- und Befrachtungs OHG. Hauschild's flag is: white with broken capitals: green A, and black H.
Santiago Dotor, 6 Nov 2003

H.W. Heidmann

image by Jorge Candeias, 3 Dec 2004

The flag is simple and clear: a white cloth with two black "H" that share a common leg. But the caption is a nightmare. Speculating a lot, I could say it's something like "H. W. Hremans". Let's hope it pops up in some other source.
Jorge Candeias, 3 Dec 2004

It's No. 588 in the on-line 1912 Lloyds Flags & Funnels: 'H.W. Heidmann, Hamburg'.
Jan Mertens, 4 Dec 2004

John Heins

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 2 Apr 2007

John Heins - The company used a red over yellow pennant superimposed by a black serifed capital "H" shifted to the hoist.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; inside cover.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 2 Apr 2007

Helmsing & Grimm

image by Jarig Bakker, 30 Sep 2005

Helmsing & Grimm G.m.b.H. & Co., Hamburg; white burgee, blue disk.
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 30 Sep 2005

Wilhelm Hemsoth

image by Jarig Bakker, 7 Feb 2005

Wilhelm Hemsoth, Hamburg - white flag, tapered blue saltire, in center yellow disk with two black hammers in saltire; in white top and bottom black "WH".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 7 Feb 2005

Jorg Hennig

image by Jarig Bakker, 17 Dec 2005

Jorg Hennig Bereederungs und Schiffahrts K.G., Duisburg - green flag, white "H".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 17 Dec 2005

A.J. Hertz Söhne

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

A.J.Hertz Söhne - The flag shows a white Hamburg-gate in a red heart ("Hertz" = heart) in a blue heart in a white flag.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; inside cover.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 23 Mar 2007

Claus Heydorn

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Claus Heydorn - The only thing I know about Claus Heydorn is, that he ran the vessel JOHANNA MATHILDA from 1869-1874 together with Rob M. Sloman. The flag is somehow an inverted Sloman flag. In the centre of a white cloth is a blue Hamburg-gate and in each corner is a blue 6-point star.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.23.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Heyne & Hessenmüller

image by Eugene Ipavec, 20 Aug 2008

Jorge Candeias wrote: "The flag is relatively clear if we except the central element: consists ofa yellow saltire on blue, with a large disc in the center, containing what seems to be blue letters: the large one is clearly an H, but there seems to be another, smaller, H above it and what looks like an inverted question mark below it."

A difficult one this, even if we saw enough of the flag to realize it must have been rather a striking one. In the event Jörg?s source identifies it as belonging to Heyne & Hessenmüller: Yellow saltire and yellow disk on a blue field (would at least the disk have had a black outline?), the disk bearing a large black initial ?H? between a smaller one above and an ampersand below, all black. The letters are serifed.

There are slight traces on the web, for instance, H&H sold a ship to the Yeoward Line in 1904 (The Ships List), another one was bought in 1900 (Warsailors). Not very much to go on, as yet.
Jan Mertens, 19 Dec 2006

Reederei Hiddensee

image by Al Fisher

Blue flag with a wide red stripe, fimbriated white, from bottom hoist to top fly, bearing a white anchor. On the top hoist a white letter 'R', on the bottom fly a white letter 'H'.
Santiago Dotor, 17 May 2005

Jean Hintze

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Jean Hintze - This company used a black flag with a white rhomb with red serifed capital letters "JH".
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; cover inside.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Heinrich Hirdes

image by Santiago Dotor, 27 Mar 2006

Sara Townsley asked: This flag is located on a main road in a rural area in Baden-Wurttemburg, Germany. It has three horizontal stripes: white on the top, white on the bottom, and black across the middle. In the black field, "HH" is in large white letters. It's flying from a pole at the entrance to an agricultural business, whose name does not contain any Hs.
Sara Townsley, 27 Mar 2006

This flag is the houseflag of the Heinrich Hirdes GmbH founded 1912 in Duisburg. This company still exists (now in Hamburg), see this website.
Jörg M. Karaschewski, 30 Mar 2006

Hoesch Reederei

image by Jarig Bakker, 30 Aug 2006

I have found only one trace of this elusive firm, ?Hoesch Reederei GmbH? established at Dortmund or Ruhrort according to the Dutch 'Binnenvaart' site.
Once a motor tug, the erstwhile ?Hoesch 1? was built in 1940, sold in 1952, and re-acquired under the same name by Hoesch in 1956. Sold definitively in 1969 to be rebuilt as the passenger ship ?Patria? shown on the photo.

So an inland towage firm by the name of Hoesch was active at least between 1940 and 1969 ? not much information to go by but this is all I could find and so am wholly indebted to Binnenvaart.
(There is of course the well-known steel company Hoesch, now a part of ThyssenKrupp, but whether there is a connection is another question.)

The house flag: horizontally divided white-orange etc., five stripes in all, and a small white canton, thinly bordered in black where it touches the stripes, containing a ?Fraktur? initial ?h? within a black ring.
Jan Mertens, 30 Aug 2006

Yes, there is a connection with the steel-concern - see this page presenting 73-year old Marlies Berndsen, a volunteer working for the Hoesch Museum in Dortmund, more especially the title "Wahres Symbol" (true symbol) and the accompanying photo showing the ringed initial.
That 'h' however is no longer the company symbol... Quoting Ms Berndsen (translated): "To the old Hoeschians the gothic 'H' will always be the only true symbol of Hoesch - and to me in any case".
Incidentally, it is not an upper case 'H' as evidenced by the Fraktur ("Gothic" script) table available in dictionaries and the like.
Concerning the shipping company, I now realize that it was already mentioned in the 6 June 2006 message concerning WTAG, as being one of the founding firms in 1899.
Logically, Hoesch must have broken away (if that is not too strong a term) sometime between 1899 and 1940, first trace I found of a vessel in operation.
Jan Mertens, 31 Aug 2006

Wulf Hoffmann

image by Jarig Bakker, 17 Dec 2005

Wulf Hoffmann, Hamburg - blue flag with 4 white horizontal stripes a varying height; in center sort of white "WH".
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels Shipping Companies of the World, compiled by J.L. Loughran, Glasgow, 1995 [lgr95]
Jarig Bakker, 17 Dec 2005

Holm & Molzen

image by Jarig Bakker, 7 Feb 2005

Holm & Molzen, Flensburg - blue flag, white 7-pointed star
Image after Brown's Flags and Funnels of British and Foreign Steamship Companies, compiled by F.J.N. Wedge, Glasgow, 1926 [wed26]
Jarig Bakker, 7 Feb 2005

Eduard Holtzapfel

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 5 Apr 2007

Eduard Holtzapfel - The company existed from 1889 til 1912, when Holtzapfel gave up. The company used a white flag with red stripes on either edge. The white field had a small blue canton with a white shield showing a branch with three wild apples (germ.: Holzäpfel). The red inscription "E.H." is shifted to the fly.
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.153-154.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 5 Apr 2007

Alfred Homuth

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007

Alfred Homuth G.m.b.H. - The company was founded by Captain Alfred Homuth in 1919 and existed at least until 1927. The company used a green flag with a white diamond with red serifed dotted capital letters "A.H."
Source: Jürgen Meyer: "Hamburger Segelschiffe von 1795-1945"; ISBN 3-89225-400-1; Hamburg 1999; p.218f-219.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 22 Mar 2007